Feedback on school suggestions

Immediately after I published my ideas on how the Ohio school system should be modernized and made efficient I e-mailed them to Ohio Senator Tim Schaffer and Ohio Representative Jay Hottinger.

Yesterday, Sen. Schaffer’s office advised me that he is sharing those ideas with the state K-12 Education work group of which he is a member.

Earlier, our Representative’s assistant told me that Mr. Hottinger would be taking a “careful look” at those ideas and will eventually respond.

I am honored and thankful that the ideas are being studied.

NCS levy signals call to arms

Anyone who considers the passage of the $5.9-million-per-year levy a sign that the community is poised to kiss and make up with the Newark City Schools should go read the outpouring of rage in comments to the Advocate on-line news report.

The NCS tax take has grown by $230 a year per $100,000 value. That’s added to the $892 per year already in place, plus a 1 percent income tax, plus state and federal taxes giving Keith & Company a total of $12,693 per student, per year, plus an estimated 9.3% increase in state and federal aid over the next two years. 

Still NCS will not have enough, they say, to fully bus students, or fully fund the extras for students, but they do anticipate having enough for staff raises which are needed because the NCS classroom teachers’ average salary is only $55,331 for nine months’ work before benefits - and NCS has only one employee for every 4.9 students, and the superintendent makes more than the governor of Alaska.

That Keith & Company strategized a winning shell game on property owners comes as a call to arms. Sitting in front of a computer screen screaming insults back and forth may be therapeutic, but it’s a lousy solution. 

What has to happen next is state intervention into the rape of property owners. It has to happen before Keith & Company come back to rape again, and they will because it’s never enough no matter how much it is.

There are three people who are responsible for doing this, but who won’t do anything meaningful for property owners unless they are made to do it. One is State Representative Jay Hottinger, another is State Senator Tim Schaffer and the third is Governor Ted Strickland.

Jay Hottinger has practically grown to adulthood as our link to state government. Because of that, I think he is as responsible as any member of government for schools’ rape and re-raping of property owners in Newark, Licking County, and Ohio.

So here’s a suggestion for you guys sitting there moaning about having to pay yet another $5.9 million each year on top of an already-excessive tax bill:

Call Jay Hottinger’s office - 614/466-1482 - and ask him precisely what he’s going to do to solve the problem. If you don’t understand his answer, ask again. 

Then call Senator Schaffer at 614/466-5838 and ask him the same thing. Ask the same question as many times as it takes until you understand it.

Then call Governor Strickland at the constituent helpline 614/644-4357 and ask him what he’s going to do to solve the problem. Make sure you understand exactly what he intends to do before you hang up.

When you have done so, please leave a comment here about your experience. The number and kind of comments received will indicate how serious you are about dealing with the problem, rather than whining about it.

Hottinger works for more efficient government

Ohio Representative Jay Hottinger is co-sponsoring a bill that may lead to more efficient state government. It would create a commission comprised of business leaders to study how the State of Ohio can become more business-like. They might recommend combination, improvements or elimination of agencies and functions.

How many times have we wished government were run like a successful business? Well, Jay is among those opening the door for that and I hope folks at the Statehouse will rally to this cause.

The bill, HB66, would ensure that the 12 members of the commission could not personally profit from their decisions. Their work would not drag on forever, but end with a final report due 1/31/11.

Jay explains how this commission would work in a news release 3/13/09 entitled “Making State Government More Efficient” I have reproduced it at the Newark Tea Party web site at this link.

Hottinger writes about school funding

State Representative Jay Hottinger recently e-mailed a position paper on school funding that has considerable merit but got little if any ink. It tells how Governor Strickland is using one-time federal funding dollars that will not be available in two years. That means, Jay says, “when our next budget is due ... it will have to be either cut from our schools or raised through additional taxes or cuts elsewhere in our budget that has a total deficit of $7.3 million.”

You can read Jay’s paper at this Newark Tea Party link.

In related news, there was an AP report about Governor Stickland’s finagling of federal funds for schools. Seems he stowed $922 million of that money in Ohio’s general revenue fund.

The crux of the article, headlined “Stimulus funds for Ohio schools need new treatment,” was that Strickland heeded Washington’s warning that “a second round of education funding could be jeopardized if (states) don’t spend the first round as Congress and the president intended,” and he moved the money to a special revenue category.

Yeah, but I'm still with Howard

Yesterday I wrote here about campaign funding for state representative candidates Hottinger and Hill. The information came from the Advocate web site and turned out to be incomplete.

Keith W. Hare of Granville caught the errors and made corrections in the comments section, so if you're interested in the details, please go read what he said at this link.

Michael Shearer, Advocate editor, also commented to the effect that the newspaper's database had been brought up to date as of yesterday, but it still doesn't jibe with figures provided by Mr. Hare who got his from the Ohio Secretary of State.

Mr. Hare reports campaign expenditures of $13,059 for Hill; $169,410 for Hottinger. So the presumption I used - that nobody owns Howard Hill and many have purchased Jay Hottinger - has been shot down.

Even so, the point by Mr. Hare - that the top seven of Hottinger's donors kicked in $72,680 and that they are all from out of state - says something about whether Jay has been - and will if elected - exclusively represent the interests of folks in Licking County as should be the case.

I still think Howard will do a better job for the Licking County commoner if he is elected.

I'm with Howard Hill and here's why

This may be the toughest race Jay Hottinger, Licking County's state representative has ever run, even if it weren't for the stench hanging on Republicans because of President Bush. It will be tough because for the first time in my memory Jay will be running against a school teacher with a working man's perspective - and common men and women will indeed get out to vote this year. Jay's opponent is the son of political servant of great stature - Don Hill, whose many years of service to local citizens earned him wide respect and his name on the county government building. Don served with ability and honesty and likely his son would serve us equally well.

This contest pits Howard Hill, the commoner, against Jay Hottinger, the business establishmentarian. Nobody owns Howard, many have purchased Jay. Their contributors are listed at the Advocate's data base:

Howard Hill: Balance on hand: $150;
Donations By Contributor: No records found.

Jay Hottinger: Balance on hand 10/23/08: $103,900;
Donations by Contributor: Charles Dolan, Eva Dolan, Helen Dolan, Larence Dolan - each donated $10,670 (Charles Dolan is described by The Museum of Broadcast Communications as "one of the least known but most powerful moguls in the modern cable television industry in the United States.")

Then there is David Brennan of Akron who gave $10,000 and who runs Ohio's largest charter school company, according to The Ohio Federation of Teachers, and Ann A. Brennan, also of Akron, who donated $5,000.

An Ohio Federation of Teachers report prepared in cooperation with the AFL-CIO union, “... shows clearly that David Brennan has been allowed to circumvent numerous state laws, and that profit, not helping children learn, is the primary motive,” said OFT President Tom Mooney."

The report states that David Brennan built his education empire on public dollars enabled by favorable legislation adopted after enormous campaign contributions to legislators. In one two-month period alone, November and December 2001, while the House was deliberating HB 364 (which significantly relaxed regulations on charter schools), the Brennan family contributed $162,500 to GOP members of the House, all in $2,500 checks (the maximum per cycle at that time) ... Brennan’s charter school operations have faced little scrutiny from regulators, including state auditors, who were also the recipients of his political contributions.

Also contributing to Jay's campaign funds:
Ohio Academy of Nursing Homes - $10,000

William L Lager - owner of "A complete learning management system providing educational services; namely, classroom instruction, primarily on-line, for grades K through 12"

Oil and Gas Association - $5,000

Then there's First Energy, plus First Energy PAC, plus Gary Leidich, president of First Energy, each donating $5,000 to Jay's campaign, plus Gib Reese, Jerry McClain, Les Wexner, Dan Delawder, Marathon Oil, Meijer PAC, - and the list just goes on and on for ten web pages of special-interest donors who have staked a claim for favorable votes by Jay Hottinger.

Owing a piece of any legislator is exactly and precisely what's wrong with government. Jay is worth less as a representative of the common working stiff by $103,900; Howard has maintained his full value. I'm with Howard.

Newark citizens are a money pit to be mined

The notion that government should be allowed to spy on citizen-drivers with robotic cameras was odious to many when first conceived by local governments in cahoots with robo-cop inventors.

About three years ago a plan was hatched by for-profit traffic enforcers - local and not - that would allow so-called "traffic safety cameras" to photograph cars running red lights and, in effect, issue tickets.

Local governments would rake in untold fortunes and camera vendors would skim off a pile of profit.

Folks howled and the state legislature responded. Then-Representative Dave Evans co-sponsored a bill - and then-Senator Jay Hottinger voted for its senate version - to prevent these scavengers from preying on drivers because, for one thing, these cameras record information that goes beyond the infraction and the plate number. And, by turning a profit for a vendor, this gig is not exclusively for the purpose of reducing violations. The bill mandated that a police officer operate the camera or at least be nearby. Think of the inconvenience.

Those bills passed both houses but was vetoed by our then-consistently-anti-citizen Governor Taft, so now this gig is legal in Ohio.

Seizing the moment - as he did on the auto-tax boost and the ride-to-the-hospital-in-city-vehicles-for-a-price - Newark Mayor Bob Diebold, who never passed up an opportunity to screw citizens if it meant an extra buck for the city treasury, is pumping the idea that Newark should team with Redflex Traffic Systems to give local drivers a $85-to-$125 chunk of grief for stop-light violations.

If the conspiracy works as it does in Dayton, Newark will keep just 35 percent of the profits for this plunder and the rest will go to the Scottsdale Arizona smoothies whose MO was recorded in USA Today under the title Smile! You're on a Redflex camera.

Key sentence in that report is this: "You've probably never heard of them, but Redflex may someday get to know you better than you'd like."

From just that much, Newark Ohio already knows it better than we'd like. Also, Newark Mayor Bob Diebold.

Hottinger explains Ohio's child predator law

I took a pop at the law that permits government to go after a teenager as a sex predator for a minor offense when I wrote about it here 10/9/08. I said it was Jay Hottinger's badly written law at fault.

Well, it's a lot more complicated than that. After exchanging correspondence with Jay and his legal assistant I have concluded that the law is indeed imperfect and Jay may have contributed to that imperfection by not being able - any more than any other legislator who voted for it - to envision the loophole that allows prosecutors such as Ken Oswalt to snare a child into the category of sexual predator for inappropriate behavior. Also, that this law will be revised by the Ohio legislature.

Here are are three key paragraphs from Jay's letter to me as they relate to the prosecution of a local teenager under Megan's Law, which he authored, and which was revised under the title Adam Walsh Law:

"I can tell you with 100% certainty that as I was writing the bill, as it was being debated, and as it was being passed with broad and overwhelming bi-partisan support in 2001- the discussion was always on these young people doing very dangerous and serious adult-like crimes.
 
"I was not involved in the Adam Walsh writing but I can tell you that no legislator ever envisioned an incident like our current local situation being used to prosecute a young person as a sex offender and having to register. 
 
"This case is a classic example of why are laws in Ohio are called the Ohio Revised Code.  I believe there certainly needs to be some revision as while this girl broke the law and there needs to be some form of consequences - to label her a sex offender and to have to register for 20 years is tragic and absurd.  I am certainly not condoning her behavior but this possible sentence is not in balance with the offense."

At this link you can read Jay's letter and an explanation by his legislative aide of the laws in question.

Licking County stands out among bad governments

When Licking County's zealous prosecutor took advantage of a quirk in a Licking County state legislator's badly written law to snare a 15-year-old girl as a sexual predator, (which I wrote about yesterday) I suspect he didn't know it would be a world event.

AP picked it up from the Advocate's report and it has been a subject of interest from New Jersey to Spokane, from Alabama to Canada, and recently it has jumped the ocean to England. Google News claims to have listed 223 news articles about this event as of this morning.

Only one reason for such widespread interest and that is the depths to which government - our local government - has sunk. We are an oddity in a world filled with bad governments.

Let us reflect on our world reputation when our county prosecutor, Ken Oswalt, and our state representative, Jay Hottinger, ask for re-election.

Replace Keith and stop bullying us

That Newark voters have said "no" again to their city schools is no surprise to anyone except those who masterminded an August vote at a cost of $40,000. What part of "no" didn't they understand last time? And how many more "no's" is it going to take before we see changes in ...

1 - Newark City Schools administrators and administrative techniques?

2 - City schools' bullying attitude toward the people it presumes to serve?

3 - A commitment by schools to serve its customers to the best of its ability, rather than to apply what one commenter in the Advocate called "use of threats and selective parental pain-points?"

4 - A commitment to help bring financial relief to pensioners by reducing, not increasing, property taxes?

5 - A strong and committed leadership by this community for state funding reform?

1 - There is much in the recent history of NCS about which Keith Richards is to be praised, but to little people like me he symbolizes the stuff about NCS that turns me off, and that grows progressively worse the longer he stays. This most recent fiasco - the $40,000 August tax vote - has capped it. Against this backdrop his other mistakes in community/taxpayer/parental relations add up to a conglomeration of errors he will not outlive. Cut the cord now.

A demonstration of good intentions by school board would be replace Mr. Richards with an interim person who is 1) much lower on the pay scale, 2) exceedingly charismatic, 3) in sync with the mentality of parents and taxpayers, and 4) determined to make the least painful budget adjustments, especially for the short-term.

2 - An about-face by NCS on who is supposed to be serving whom. Schools - Newark and elsewhere - have morphed into these quasi-governmental big boys for whom customer service is last on their list. Read it over and over in the Advocate comments sections; read it in Newark Tea Party Observations.

3 - Taking away bussing and hitting at school sports were, in my opinion, the most ham-handed of NCS mistakes - parental and student pain-points at their rawest, an obvious attempt to browbeat the customers into a voting frenzy. How can these customers be proud of the city schools?

4 - The property tax burden has long been excessive. It reached the breaking point when the last gold mine was extracted by taxing homeowners. What should have happened is taxation upon sales, corporate profits, and/or EARNED income. Taxes on earned income, like Newark City Income Tax (and unlike the present school tax on income) does not tax pensions. Taxation by these methods is more equitable and more likely to win voter approval, particularly from the older folks.

5 - It's time to stop whining about "state funding for education" and start demanding it. We have Jay Hottinger as a resident of Newark, one of the most influential state legislators we could hope for, particularly in the way tax money is being spent. It's time for him to be more than the poster boy for the Chamber of Commerce and start getting the school funding mess straightened out. He should also be leaning on Governor Strickland, who was elected in part on the promise to fix school funding, but has not and apparently does not intend to. Jay Hottinger needs to hear it loud and clear from Newark residents. Newark - a city buffeted by school and government ineptitude - needs to lead the way.

Textbook boondoggle in Columbus should be a warning for Newark

A bill introduced to Ohio legislature by Newark's own Jay Hottinger would wipe Ohio's anti-tobacco foundation off the map and liquidate its $270-million endowment from lawsuits against tobacco companies.

Thus would that money be available to Hottinger, Strickland and the rest of them to give away to businesses in what is being billed as a sure way to get "new jobs" for Ohio.

Here's how this move was described in part by "gentlben" in one of the reader comment sections: Ohio "joined a class action suit against the tobacco companies with other states because of the expense sick smokers were causing the state treasury. Part of the argument, which earned them all a nice annual cash settlement, was that if they win the suit, they would spend the cash award to reduce the impact of smoking in Ohio, thus reducing the amount of debt the state incurs becasue of it. So they win their suit, and millions of dollars yearly and what do they do with it? Throw it in the general fund, and now they will abolish the agency responsible for spending it as it was intended to be spent. Hm! Sounds like the same scam they pulled on us when they said lottery money would go to education."

If Ohio's governor and legislators are ballsie enough to pull this switcheroo on citizens they serve, what might one suppose Newark is going to do with the auto tag tax money being pushed by Mayor Diebold, Council Member Irene Kennedy, and some others to benefit street repairs?

Same boondoggle will be involved here, except the tag tax profits will not be nearly as easily traced as the state tobacco fund. The city purse on auto tags will eventually be folded over into the treasure chest that provides for more and bigger government. Diebold and Kennedy will fade away, but the tag tax will be ours to keep forever.

Self-defense by force isn't just a guy thing

The Ohio Senate unanimously agreed that Ohioans should be able to respond with force in defense of their lives and family. Further, that doing so should not open them to civil lawsuits.

State Senator Jay Hottinger of Newark is to be congratulated for his vote on this, the Ohio "Castle Doctrine."

We should use the occasion to remember that this isn't just another NRA Second Amendment fight, though the NRA is leading this law through state legislatures. SB 184 - the fight of law-abiding citizens who want to live safely in their own homes - now goes to the House for consideration.

We also need to remember that this isn't just a guy thing. Many, if not most, homes today are headed by the "weaker sex," mostly the sex that needs emboldened for self-defense. They need to buy guns and learn to use them safely, and this might be a small impetus.

That Ohio and other states need to "legalize" something so fundamentally necessary as the "right" to defend oneself in one's own home against criminals is pretty sick. It is just one more sign of how far off the edge the legal profession has pushed rights of regular people.

Hottinger: Take money from taxpayers, give it to businesses

State Representative Jay Hottinger has countered Governor Stickland's call to sell bonds "for new jobs" by urging, instead, more tax credits for business. His plan for sticking taxpayers again is written with a straight face in a column on the WCLT web site.

(I wrote about Strickland's plan 2/7/08 "Magic Nanny Strickland should cut government slop, not sell bonds")

Increasing tax credits for business is the same as raising taxes on citizens because state income is going to come from someone. Strickland's plan would borrow money today and let our grandchildren worry about how to pay it back.

Hottinger has problems with that because, well, it would take too long to get voter approval, get the bonds sold, get the spending party started. His plan would get the hogs to the trough quickly and wouldn't require that pesky voter approval.

Also - get this - Hottinger warns that "Given the cyclical nature of the economy, our state could have exited any recession we might find ourselves in by the time this (Strickland's) stimulus package goes into action."

In other words, if we don't stick taxpayers for more money quickly, we may not need it.

Our state representative would serve voters better by coming up with a plan to save money, not just another slight-of-hand to encourage political donations.

Blame your lazy, incompetent media for impudent government

I have been inadvertently made aware at least two dozen times in the past several hours that Brittany's sister is pregnant. I don't give a damn about her or Brittany, but that news is inescapable.

Meanwhile, the impudence of government employees rages unchecked. Why? Because media are yammering incessantly about media-created "events" like Britney-slut and her sister's vagina. Media rarely talk about what's important and when they do, their lack of depth is prodigious.

Example: The U.S.-Mexico fence project has been stopped in its tracks. Did you know that? I heard about it only because I was walking by the TV last night when Glenn Beck was popping blood from his eyes over this travesty.

This morning I spent more than an hour running down a media report about the fence on the Internet because the fact that our nation is over-run by illegal Mexicans and God knows who else is just not in the same level of importance as what Britney-slut's sister's vagina has been over-run with.

I would really like to know if my congressmen voted for or against castrating the border fence. I cannot find out. No place in the articles I saw was the bill mentioned by number. Even if there were a number, good luck sorting through the way such votes are reported on the Internet, especially voting on amendments.

What we get from media is what the so-called "Washington Press Corps" decides to send to media. Never do we hear how our congressmen voted, not unless it's a real big deal to one of the media gatekeepers. That would be the folks enthralled by celebrity vaginas.

Example: Please tell me how Jay Hottinger, your representative to the statehouse, and Tim Schaffer, your state senator, vote on anything. In fact, just tell me what there has been for them to vote on.

Example: Please tell me anything of importance reported about the Licking County Commissioners in the past several weeks, except for a small blurb about a new tax proposal. Just tell me if they're still meeting at all.

Example: Please tell me what happened at the last Newark City Council meeting if you didn't watch it yourself. You may have read the Advocate's 22-paragraph fluff lionizing Mayor Bain for his exemplary service before he was voted out of office, or you may have read the five-paragraph "report" about the city employee union addressing council. But do you know what happened at the last council meeting that affected lives and property and tax money and who voted for it and why?

No, you don't. But you probably do know the latest buzz on Buckeye football or the minutia of the police blotter - because that's a cheap and easy journalistic gimme which any clerk can be taught to handle.

It is precisely for these reasons that you're getting government employees who thumb their noses at you. You don't know who's voting on what, and the people who are paid to tell you - the Gannetts and the WCLTs and the Dispatches don't know either, don't think it's important, and would have to spend some money on reporting and editing talent to get it done.

Meanwhile they're looking for the latest celebrity vagina news and whining about readers/listeners/viewers jumping ship.

New lobby law, Hillary lies, more government intrusion, how did our mystery senator vote on screwing consumers?

New lobby law
Here's the link to a web site on which you will find a copy of the "Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007" and also wealth of information that relates to this subject.

Hillary can't quit lying because her last name is Clinton
No matter what kind of weaseling Hill attempts, she just can't hide the fact that she's a Clintonian liar. In the Des Moines forum where a question for her was planted she denied knowledge of it.

Sure.

Next spectacular lie is the waitress tip bugger-up. Someone forgot to tip a waitress during a "Middle-Class Express" pit stop in Iowa. Think about it. That's no big deal. It surely was a mistake and all they had to do was admit it. Not the Clinton way. Next day's report by AP declared that Hill's people did leave a tip with the manager who took the fall for the Senator, saying it was his fault the waitress didn't get the tip. The controversy and the weaseling continued in an NPR report, the most significant statement of which came from the waitress who said, "Why would I lie about not getting a tip?" And why would Hillary lie? Because that's the Clinton way to do things.

So, when Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland endorsed her and put out a feeler for becoming her VP, he didn't exactly collect voters' points. But the veracity of the both of them came through quite well in this USA Today report:

Asked if she would consider Strickland as a running mate, Clinton said such talk was "premature." For his part, Strickland made a strong and Sherman-esque statement – he is not interested in being the running mate to Clinton or anyone else.

Pffft

Vaccination or jail

Go read this report if you want to get pissed off about government intrusion into lives of citizens. Bureaucrats in Prince George's County VA, (bordering Washington DC) are threatening to jail parents of school children who have not gotten vaccinations as required by the state.

Electric customers shafted by Ohio Senate

An AP report in the Advocate a few days ago begins:

"COLUMBUS (AP) — Subtle changes buried in an energy bill plotting the future of Ohioans’ electricity rates guarantee that today’s prices will never fall and make it nearly impossible for producers of green power to gain a foothold in the state, [the Plain Dealer] reported Monday.

"The amendments were added by the Ohio Senate to Gov. Ted Strickland’s proposed energy bill, which the Ohio House has scheduled to debate at the leisurely pace of one hearing per week into the new year."

The bill also continued deep discounts for big industrial users, weakened the muscle originally given to PUCO, and other stuff.

I attempted to learn on-line if our state senator (can you name him?) (whose name is Tim Schaffer and who lives in Lancaster and who replaced Jay Hottinger last election and whose e-mail address is SD31@mailr.sen.state.oh.us) had voted for this senate Bill.

Getting this info on-line seems impossible. I can't find the source if there is one. Of course neither the Dispatch nor the Advocate think it important enough to report. Which is exactly why Tim and Jay do whatever they damned well want. Nobody knows.

So I wrote an e-mail to Tim three days ago and I politely asked if he voted for this bill and he didn't answer. Which means, I'm pretty sure, that he's not proud of his vote.

We really should know more about this man. In fact, it would be nice to know anything at all about our mystery senator of whom we've heard nothing since his election.

Election questions

Question for the Advocate
On the endorsement which said "So, the question must be which candidate is most likely to improve our city by adding police officers and firefighters, paving our roads, seeking new good-paying jobs and delivering city services efficiently and effectively? Who has the leadership experience necessary to take a risk that could pay off for our community? Who's been willing to admit his mistakes with candor unlike any politician we've seen in years?

"To us, the answer is Bruce Bain."

My question to the Advocate: What newspaper you been reading?

Question for WCLT
"In the race for Newark City Council President we believe that Mr. Marmie deserves a chance. Mr. Gurthie's holding of public office for 30 years indicates career politician, something the Tax Payors can no longer afford."

My question to WCLT: Is this your idea of reward for 30 years of public service?

My other question to WCLT: Have you ever heard of Jay Hottinger?

Question regarding Frank Stare
His bad showing at the polls makes it all the more important to ensure that the wheels of justice were turning properly when the charge of solicitation was made only days before the election. There is no evidence, of course, but I think his smashing loss as candidate for council was influenced by the headlines, though the Advocate made it clear that he had not been convicted of anything.

What is now owed to Frank and his family and to all citizens is indisputable certainty that the accusers and anyone with a background role in this matter were interested only in seeing justice being served. Anything short of a full and impartial report on all such details will be unsatisfactory, and this matter will never go away.

Kraner v. Cauchon: Whose rights getting stomped?

Whose legal rights are getting stomped may be decided in the outcome of the biggest little lawsuit to involve Licking County adversaries in many years.

Local developer William Kraner claims Dennis Cauchon, Granville, defamed him and interfered with a business contract. Kraner's suit, filed in Franklin County, alleges Cauchon made false and defamatory statements about him and he wants $1.5 million and some public apologies.

All of this was reported by the Advocate, along with down-loadable files of the legal complaint and other documents at this link.

An interesting comment was posted in the newspaper's forum that adds dimension to the Advocate report. Here is is:

"Having had one of these hung on me when working on housing issues in Indianapolis, my sympathies are entirely with Mr. Cauchon. Even with free legal support from Indiana University law professors, it took three and a half years and all our time and attention as a neighborhood association to get the charges dismissed with prejudice (meaning they were groundless and could not be refiled in any form). Interference with contract and defamation of character will never be proven in this case, as Mr. Kraner's actions as a public figure were discussed in a public way, and personal animus and intent isn't even on the table.

"But Mr. Kraner can easily afford to have a staffer manage this case for the next few years, while Mr. Cauchon's kitchen table will have to shift focus to getting this SLAPP dismissed, which is the entire point. Meanwhile, Mr. Kraner could donate $10,000 to support the city of Newark's effort to attract the Crew facility if he wanted a public gesture proving his good will. Instead, he sues.

"Read the wikipedia link."

Following that link to Wikipedi will take you to an essay about Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP). I didn't know there was such a thing, though I myself had been so victimized many years ago.

The following are two segments from the Wikipedia article that reduce this subject to its basics. The first is the definition of a "SLAPP;" the second is the legal remedy provided to Californians, one that should be enacted by every state. (Hey Jay Hottinger, where are you?) Readers are encouraged to visit the on-line article because it has many interesting and important links.

"A Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation ("SLAPP") was originally defined as a lawsuit involving communications made to influence a governmental action or outcome, which resulted in a civil complaint or counterclaim filed against nongovernment individuals or organizations on a substantive issue of some public interest or social significance. ... It has been defined more broadly by some to include suits arising from speech in connection with a public issue. ... This form of litigation is frequently filed by organizations or individuals to intimidate and silence critics or opponents by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense so that they abandon their criticism or opposition. The acronym was coined in the 1980s by University of Denver professors Penelope Canan and George W. Pring."

...

"The U.S. state of California enacted Code of Civil Procedure § 425.16 in 1992, a statute intended to prevent the misuse of litigation in SLAPP suits. It provides for a special motion which a defendant can file at the outset of a lawsuit to strike a complaint where the complaint arises from conduct that falls within the rights of petition or free speech. The statute expressly applies to any writing or speech made in connection with an issue under consideration or review by a legislative, executive, or judicial proceeding, or any other official proceeding authorized by law, but there is no requirement that the writing or speech be promulgated directly to the official body. It also applies to speech in a public forum about an issue of public interest and to any other petition or speech conduct about an issue of public interest.

"The filing of an anti-SLAPP motion prevents the plaintiff from amending the complaint and stays all discovery. If the special motion is denied, the filing of an appeal immediately stays the trial court proceedings as to each challenged cause of action. Defendants prevailing on an anti-SLAPP motion (including any subsequent appeal) are entitled to a mandatory award of reasonable attorney’s fees. More than 200 published court opinions have interpreted and applied California's anti-SLAPP law.

"California's Code of Civil Procedure § 425.17 corrects abuse of the anti-SLAPP statute (CCP § 425.16). Signed into law on September 6, 2003, this statute prohibits anti-SLAPP motions in response to certain public interest lawsuits and class actions, and actions that arise from commercial statements or conduct. Section 425.18, signed into law on October 6, 2005, was enacted to facilitate SLAPP victims in recovering their damages through a SLAPPback (malicious prosecution action) against the SLAPP filers and their attorneys after the underlying SLAPP has been dismissed."

Writing a whiney editorial doesn't help

Advocate editorialists wondered in yesterday's edition "if Ohio lawmakers have a vendetta against the public's right to records and openness in government."

The preface to this is a mention of an Ohio bill that would further limit access to public records regarding public employees and also a mention of the legal closure of "many foster parent records" with the help of our own Jay Hottinger, who voted in favor of it.

At least they called out a name, finally.

Protection of the public's right to know has to be diligently and constantly defended. And that means, Advocate, that your right to public records requires you to fight for it, not just whine when another set of records gets sealed by government.

You expect your readers to come to your aid in keeping government open when 1) you charge us for the right to search your data base of news articles? and 2) you won't even raise the issue of members of Newark's Economic Development Committee holding a meeting in New Albany in apparent violation of the state's open meetings act?

Newspapers no longer defend against unfair and illegal government practices. Not just the Advocate, but very few of them, including - perhaps especially - the Columbus Dispatch.

So why don't you pull Jay Hottinger out front and ask him some serious questions about his vote? And why don't you put on record those councilmen and others who met in New Albany?

It takes will power, dedication, money, and time. The fight for freedom is a war and it never goes away. Read this.

Writing a whiney editorial doesn't get it. Get off your butt, Advocate.

Ohio taxpayers, your voting machines are still suspect

The Ohio secretary of state wants to know whether Ohio's voting machines work as intended, whether they accurately count the votes, and how to improve security to ensure these two things happen during elections.

Jennifer Brunner, who is newly elected to the Secretary of State office, wants to spend $1.8 million in federal grant money (read it federal tax money) to get that information, according to a report in the Columbus Dispatch today.

That such an incredible amount needs to be spent to prove the integrity of Ohio's voting system is a shame. If our election officials were honest and if our machines and software were tamper-proof and reliable in the first place, there never would have been a $1.8-million question.

But they are not because they are government devices being supervised by government politician-employees.

But Jennifer is right. Get it nailed down because Ohio's election results have been, and still are, suspect - here and throughout the nation.

The Dispatch report mentioned State Representative Jay Hottinger, member of the Ohio Controlling Board. The Board's approval for the expenditure is needed, and Jay was mentioned as among its supporters.

Greed and the Big 10

"What fascinates me is the sheer gall of an organization that makes its living off the free labor of college students and which already makes quadzillions of dollars from lucrative bowl games and merchandising and ridiculous ticket prices, and yet now has the chutzpah to say to Time Warner: 'Cough up $1.10 per subscriber every month and we'll let you broadcast games' ... It's emblematic of the way things are: no matter how much money is raked in it's never enough, no matter how loyal your customers you'll still find a way to screw them given half a chance, and one thin, red dime can never be left on the table."

Well-said, Tim Smith of Hilliard, who was writing in the Sunday Dispatch to the editor of the sports section. The headline for this column was: Big Ten Network lightning rod for seething OSU fans.

None of this is news to OSU football fans or anyone who's followed the incredibly greedy practices of this state-supported university. I mentioned it briefly 9/4/07 under the title "OSU - It's all about greed"

Where are the limits to these practices? Who controls the money-changers at our state's universities? Where are Ohio legislators and what are they doing about runaway enrichment of university administrators and sports programs? Or is it the other way: do the money-changers in fact control the state legislators? And where's Jay Hottinger when you need him?